When You’re ‘The Little Guy’

As artists, it’s your job to be in touch with your emotions, but it doesn’t have to dictate your life.

I could write forever and a day about this subject because I have so many examples of feeling like, “The Little Guy.” Just recently I walked into a paint store looking for just a couple of cans and some materials – none of which I knew anything about – and I was treated like a little no one because I wasn’t a contractor ordering 60 cans. I was brushed off by the manager onto his teenage assistant who was asking him questions along the way, then rung up my order wrong and I had to go back the next day to fix the receipt. All that manager had to do was help me, take care of me, and then send me on my merry way. But I was “The Little Guy” – insignificant to his day end status report.

Years ago, I was at an audition when the waiting room was standing room only and the CD’s were in the office laughing, eating and putting their feet up on the desk having the time of their lives. Boy, was I upset.

So what do you do when you feel like, “The Little Guy?” Well, you have two choices, feel like you’re a blip on a radar screen and get angry or use that time to breathe and say, “I am enough,” I am somebody,” “I am wonderfully significant.” Your mood doesn’t have to be swayed just because someone doesn’t know your value. As artists, it’s your job to be in touch with your emotions, but it doesn’t have to dictate your life. You are in charge of how others make you feel. You have a choice.

When I was in that waiting room, I let that feeling of disrespect color my audition. My bad. I was the one who suffered. However, in the paint store, I chose to not let those feelings overcome my being. Instead, I patiently waited, recognized that people can make you feel bad because of their behavior, and didn’t let it penetrate. I actually felt like a person in control of my own state of mind. I had a choice and I chose, “I am enough exactly as I am.”

So, the next time you feel like “The Little Guy,” take a deep breath and choose inner peace.

Amy Lyndon is considered Hollywood’s Premiere Booking Coach and creator of the internationally acclaimed, “The Lyndon Technique: The 15 Guideline Map To Booking.” She has 40+ Network Series Regulars, an Emmy Award winner, an Imagen Award Winner and 1000’s of working actors around the globe all using her technique. She’s also a multi-award winning Actress, Director, Writer and Producer, was a former CEO – Personal Manager, was voted one of the best audition teachers in Los Angeles from Backstage.com for four years, is Lindsay’s Acting Coach in TLC’s My Giant Life and honored that her technique is being taught at The University of Kansas. http://thelyndontechnique.com